246 results for 'court:"4th Circuit"'.
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the agency. Under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, a drug manufacturer that increases its prices faster than inflation rises must reimburse Medicaid for the difference. These reimbursements are paid via rebates. Primarily, each drug’s rebate amount is usually determined based on its own original price and inflation clock, but not always. Congress has instructed in the Medicaid statute that some “line extension” drugs can be on the hook not only for their own price increases but also for the price increases of the drugs they evolved from. The agency promulgated a regulation that set forth criteria for what constitutes a line-extension drug that the pharmaceutical company claims expanded the definition of a line extension beyond what the Medicaid statute permitted. Each departure of the regulatory text is patently superficial, with no discernable effect on the term’s reach. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 23-1457, Categories: Government, Medicaid, Agency
J. King finds the lower court properly denied the defendant's suppression motion. Police tracked a pair of men that vaguely matched the description witnesses of a murder gave. The two men carried small black bags. An officer approached the pair at an apartment complex, and they immediately tried to escape, but the defendant was unsuccessful. Before the officer could cuff the defendant, he flung his bag into the courtyard below. Inside the bag was a pistol matching the description of the murder weapon, along with cannabis. The defendant argued the officer had no right to search through his bag, but the defendant relinquished ownership of the bag when he threw it away. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: King, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 23-4179, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, Murder
J. Harris finds the lower court properly denied the group of immigrant's motion to dismiss. The six non-citizens indicted for illegally reentering the U.S. following their prior removal moved to dismiss their indictments on the ground that the relevant provision is unconstitutional because it was enacted with a racially discriminatory purpose. The applicable provision includes the national-origin quota system, which initially gave preference to individuals from certain European countries. The revised provision eliminates racial discrimination by adjusting its formulas and adding preferences for family reunification and non-citizens with specified skills. It also sought to ensure that the new immigration system would be free of racial discrimination, in part by eliminating bars to naturalization based on race. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Harris, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 22-4072, Categories: Immigration
J. Floyd finds the Fourth Circuit lacks jurisdiction over the immigration appeal. The Yemen native was a member of the Yemeni Socialist Party, actively fought in Yemen’s civil war in 1994 where he was imprisoned. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied his application for asylum status on terrorism grounds. Congress provides that court have no jurisdiction over decisions the authority for which is specified to be in the discretion of the Attorney General.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Floyd, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 21-2010, Categories: Immigration, Agency, Jurisdiction
J. Thacker finds the lower court improperly granted immunity to the healthcare provider. A patient's personal medical information was stolen during a cyberattack on the provider's computer system. Healthcare providers are immune from federal suits arising out of medical, surgical, dental, or related functions. The provider argued that the patient's medical information rises out of a medical function, but safeguarding data is not a medical function. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Thacker, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 22-2268, Categories: Health Care, Immunity, Negligence
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J. Rushing finds the lower court properly denied the requested preliminary injunction. The pair of voters argued the state senate districts drawn in 2023 violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, claiming it effectively disenfranchised Black voters. The voters sought an injunction erasing the current districts and allowing them to draw the lines before the 2024 election cycle. The proximity to the election and not showing the extraordinary circumstances necessary to justify disrupting the status quo before trial makes the injunction not feasible. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 23-1095, Categories: Elections, Government
J. Thacker finds that the lower court improperly denied the private school's motion to dismiss a student's civil rights suit. A student who suffered from sexual harassment and bullying sought to sue her private Christian school for violating Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. A tax exemption is not the same as receiving federal financial assistance, making the school not subject to Title IX. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Thacker, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 23-1453, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, First Amendment
J. Wynn finds the lower court improperly granted summary judgment to the contractor on fraud claims. A couple and a contractor agreed to the sale and renovation of a home. The contractor told the couple that all subcontractors would be licensed before they signed the agreement. Despite Virginia law not requiring that subcontractors working under a licensed contractor hold their licenses, the couple would not have agreed to the sale if they knew they would be unlicensed. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wynn, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 22-2265, Categories: Construction, Fraud, Contract
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly granted the government summary judgment. The attorney sought to sue the FBI for violating the Freedom of Information Act when it refused to turn over documents related to the charging of his client with the production and possession of child pornography. The documents fall within the exception for records that could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings as they are part of ongoing investigations of third-party individuals. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 23-1821, Categories: Evidence, Child Pornography
J. Heytens finds the lower court improperly denied the inmate's statutory and constitutional claims stemming from rejecting his request for a prison to accommodate his religious dietary restrictions. The inmate, a Sufi Muslim, cannot eat meat except certain fish and has a soy allergy, making it impossible for him to eat the prison's religious special diet. The government imposes a substantial burden on religious practice when it puts a person between a rock and a hard place - forcing them to choose between a government-provided benefit and their religious convictions. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Heytens, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 23-6334, Categories: Constitution, Prisoners' Rights
J. Niemeyer finds the lower court properly denied the passenger's attempt to submit a fourth complaint. An airplane captain ordered the passenger to deboard the plane after finding out she had a dog allergy and two dogs would be on the aircraft, causing a situation the flight attendants felt uncomfortable with. The passenger's explanation that she needed to be in Los Angeles the next morning, that her allergy would not be an issue because of where she was seated, and that her allergy was “not life-threatening” was insufficient. The captain refused to reconsider his decision. The passenger refused to leave, and the captain ordered state officials to remove her from the plane physically. At the time of his decision, the captain believed the allergies to be life-threatening, a valid reason to remove her. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Niemeyer, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 21-1221, Categories: Malicious Prosecution, Negligence, Police Misconduct
J. Wilkinson finds the Board properly denied the Venezuelan's petition for relief from deportation. The Venezuelan argued his attempts to meet a 14-year-old for sex, which led to attempted sexual battery and electronic solicitation of minor convictions, are not crimes involving moral turpitude. He argued that attempted sexual battery was not a crime involving moral turpitude as the minimum conduct to sustain a conviction was insufficiently reprehensible. And he claimed that the electronic solicitation statute lacked the requisite culpable mens rea to be a crime involving moral turpitude. Statutes that limit convictions to defendants who knew or had reason to believe that their intentional sexual acts were directed at children categorically involve moral turpitude. Denied.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 23-1238, Categories: Immigration, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Floyd finds the lower court improperly opted not to lower the defendant's sentence under the First Step Act. The court originally sentenced the defendant in 1996 to two concurrent terms of life imprisonment on a continuing criminal conspiracy count and a federal crack cocaine offense. The defendant is worthy of a time education because he has displayed good conduct, is unlikely to commit crimes, spent half his life in prison and other co-defendants have received sentence reductions. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Floyd, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 22-6748, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing, Conspiracy
J. Hudson finds the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the health research foundation. Doctors exposed Guatemalan prisoners and sex workers to sexually transmitted diseases without their full consent in an effort to better understand diseases like gonorrhea and syphilis. Although the foundation provided general funding, the doctors who infected the prisoners were not acting as agents of the foundation. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Hudson, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 22-1678, Categories: Civil Rights, Health Care, Immunity
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the county on all claims and dismissed the case. The police officer contends that the county transferred him to an inferior posting in retaliation for his filing a complaint alleging discrimination in departmental promotion practices. The office, tasked with training recruits at the academy, accused his employer of skipping over him for promotions for less qualified women. The chief had more than enough reason to transfer the officer, though, after a series of concerning events, including an accidental firearm discharge, allegations that a range instructor used a racial slur against black police officers, and a widespread failure to follow departmental policies, were reported from the academy. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 22-1287, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. King finds the lower court properly sentenced the defendant for using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime. The defendant, convicted of the Violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity murders of 10 drug dealing competitors, argues their murder charges do not count as crimes of violence. Because the offenses involved physically committing a murder, and the murder was committed for a pecuniary purpose or for the purpose of gaining entrance to or maintaining or increasing position in the enterprise, they continue to count as crimes of violence. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: King, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 22-5, Categories: Death Penalty, Drug Offender, Murder
J. Wynn dismisses the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. This case originates from a lending relationship between a company and a bank. When that relationship soured, the parties sued each other. Nearly a decade of litigation followed, including two state-court lawsuits, a jury trial, post-trial motions, removal to federal district court, and motions practice in that court. The company has not met its burden to establish appellate jurisdiction because, despite being notified of a possible jurisdictional defect multiple times, it has not offered any valid explanation of why the court can exercise jurisdiction over the 2023 orders that it failed to timely appeal.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wynn, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 21-1414, Categories: Jurisdiction, Banking / Lending
J. Niemeyer finds the lower court properly convicted a sheriff and two deputies of federal program theft. Exercising his broad power as sheriff of a small county, the sheriff enriched himself by directing his deputies to work on the public payroll to improve his personal property, including converting and expanding a modest barn into a home entertainment center. He also enriched himself and others by devising a system to skim money from the extra compensation payable to his deputies for their work manning drunk-driver automobile checkpoints in the county. The officers argue they did not commit federal program theft because they were not agents of the county, as charged, and the county had not received more than $10,000 in federal benefits in the preceding year. The state may employ the sheriff, but he did have authorization to spend the county's money, making him an agent. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Niemeyer, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 22-4405, Categories: Theft, Money Laundering
J. King finds the lower court properly sentenced the defendant for using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime. The defendant, convicted of the violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity murders of 10 drug dealing competitors, argues their murder charges do not count as crimes of violence. Because the offenses involved physically committing a murder, and the murder was committed for a pecuniary purpose or for the purpose of gaining entrance to or maintaining or increasing position in the enterprise, they continue to count as crimes of violence. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: King, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 23-1, Categories: Death Penalty, Drug Offender, Murder
J. Heytens finds the lower court improperly granted summary judgment to the doctor. An incarcerated person who has celiac disease sued a doctor for depriving him of a gluten-free diet. The inmate did not have an expert witness who could testify about the standard treatment for celiac disease or the causal link between the doctor’s conduct and his asserted harm. Even without an expert, the inmate produced evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude the doctor knew of his celiac disease and disregarded the excessive risk it posed to his health or safety by failing to respond reasonably. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Heytens, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 22-6313, Categories: Experts, Prisoners' Rights
J. Motz finds the lower court improperly denied the Ghanaian's withholding of removal application. The Ghanaian faces deportation after being convicted of participating in a romance fraud scheme — in which members of the conspiracy made false romantic advances online to induce victims, many of whom were isolated or elderly, to send the conspirators money, who in turn sent the money to a militia in Africa. The lower court found that the amount of loss, the length of the scheme, and its effects on multiple vulnerable victims demonstrated that his crime was particularly serious. Because he was only a middleman between the fraudsters and their Ghanaian allies, he did not present a danger to the community and did not commit a serious enough crime to be barred from relief. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Motz, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 23-1281, Categories: Fraud, Immigration, Elder Abuse
J. Richardson finds the lower court properly classified the gang member's attempted murder in aid of racketeering activity as a crime of violence. The gang member argued that the Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Taylor created a dramatic change in what constitutes a crime of violence when it held that attempted Hobbs Act robbery isn’t such an offense. Taylor simply held that attempted Hobbs Act robbery isn’t a crime of violence because Hobbs Act robbery can be committed without the use of force. Murder, by contrast, requires the use of force. So, attempted murder necessarily requires the attempted use of force and fits cleanly within the definition of a crime of violence. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 22-4147, Categories: Murder, Racketeering, Gangs
J. Gregory finds that the lower court properly quashed a subpoena initiated to obtain an oral deposition of the Australian company's employees. In this trademark dispute, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is prohibited from seeking a discovery deposition. The Melbourne-based company has only the bare minimum corporate presence in Virginia to apply for a trademark, and can only be compelled to produce written discovery.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Gregory, Filed On: March 13, 2024, Case #: 22-1871, Categories: Civil Procedure, Trademark, Discovery
J. Motz finds the lower court properly sentenced the defendant for crimes related to his production and possession of child pornography. The defendant filmed multiple minor boys masturbating. The defendant argues web searches from his phone are irrelevant because they don't involve the victims of his child porn production. The web searches, including searches for "selfies boy masturbating," reveal his interest in depictions of minor boys masturbating, the same sort of conduct underlying the charged offenses. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Motz, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 22-4322, Categories: Evidence, Child Victims, Child Pornography
J. Agee finds the lower court improperly denied the health system's motion to set aside the jury’s award of punitive damages to an employee who claimed to be terminated for being a white man. The employee's boss fired him despite never receiving criticism and performing exceptionally in his role, receiving strong performance reviews, and gaining national recognition for himself and the marketing program he developed. The boss then promoted a white and Black woman to fill his job duties. Despite there being sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to determine that his race, sex, or both motivated the health system's decision to fire him, he did not show that the employer perceived a risk of unlawfulness in its discriminatory conduct. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Agee, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 22-2142, Categories: Employment, Health Care, Employment Discrimination
J. Wynn finds the lower improperly dismissed the estate's claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The estate submitted an administrative claim to the Navy for damages, claiming that the deceased's medical complications and death were the result of substandard care she received at the Navy medical center. The government believed that the estate failed to meet the administrative exhaustion requirement because, when they submitted the administrative claims, neither of the current administrators was properly qualified as administrator of the estate. Congress has not authorized regulations that impose additional jurisdictional requirements beyond those the statute itself imposes; thus, the rules on which the government relies are non-jurisdictional. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wynn, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 23-1011, Categories: Administrative Law, Wills / Probate, Wrongful Death
J. Agee finds the lower court properly dismissed the immigrant's writ of habeas corpus petition. The petitioner has to remain in custody during his lengthy immigration procedures because he has evaded court hearings before and is considered a danger to the community because of his criminal history in El Salvador, involving a murder charge and continued membership in the gang MS-13. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Agee, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 22-7365, Categories: Immigration, Habeas, Prisoners' Rights
J. Thacker finds the lower court properly denied the defendant's post-trial motion to vacate his conviction or order a new trial. The defendant, convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, believed he deserved a new trial after he learned that the government’s key witness had changed his story two weeks before trial. The government failed to disclose that information. The witness is irrelevant to the jury's decision because the evidence demonstrated that he had been sitting on the magazine, the gun was beside him, and he had a history of illegally possessing firearms. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Thacker, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 22-4617, Categories: Fair Trial, Firearms, Witnesses
J. Keenan finds the lower court improperly granted class certification to the massage parlors. The parlors lost money during the pandemic when they were closed to avoid the spread of COVID-19. To receive insurance benefits, the parlors would have had to suffer from physical material destruction or material harm to their business. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Keenan, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 22-1853, Categories: Insurance, Covid-19, Contract
J. Traxler finds the lower court properly sentenced the defendant. The defendant, convicted of selling fentanyl, argued his prior conviction of attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon isn't a violent felony for the purpose of sentence enhancements. The statute at issue, however, does not create an inchoate attempt offense and instead defines the crime of robbery with a firearm or other dangerous weapon and includes within that definition of robbery cases where the defendant attempted but did not succeed in taking personal property. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Traxler, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 21-4434, Categories: Drug Offender, Robbery, Sentencing